Education

LA teachers union opposes way federal funds spent

The union that represents Los Angeles public school teachers says it won’t agree to any pay concessions until district administrators change the way they allocate federal stimulus money. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has the story.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: L.A. Unified school site councils of parents, teachers, and administrators were supposed to decide how to use federal funds at each campus, says United Teachers Los Angeles President A.J. Duffy.

A.J. Duffy: Over and over and over again, school sites chose classroom teachers over out of classroom teachers and those decisions in far too many cases were overruled by school site personnel – principals, or district personnel, district directors, or superintendents.

Guzman-Lopez: Duffy held a sheet with the names of 37 L.A. Unified campuses at which, he says, district officials thwarted the councils’ votes. He blames school district superintendent Ramon Cortines, whose office didn’t comment on the claims.

The school district is set to lay off about 2,200 teachers by the end of this month because the state’s cutting its spending on education.